Dragonball Z: Imperfect Cell: Race Against Time

What They SayOur Hero Awakes:After learning that Cell came from his own bleak future, Trunks is left to ponder the effects of his journey through time. In South City, Cell ploughs through more civilians and accidentally runs into Krillin! Goku finally gets back on his feet, but with Cell and the other androids in full stride, can the Saiyan hero still make a difference? (Episode 131)

Time Chamber:As Cell continues his deadly march, Goku jumps back into action with an ingenious plan. By training in Kami’s Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he, Gohan, Trunks and Vegeta can get a year of training in just one day! But back at Master Roshi’s the android trio arrives looking for Goku! Can Piccolo hold them off until the Saiyans return? (Episode 132)

The Monster is coming:Behind the closed doors of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Vegeta and Trunks struggle to push past the level of Super Saiyan, while Gohan and Goku wait for their own chance to train. Down on earth, Piccolo challenges Android 17 to a battle and quickly gains the advantage. But don’t look now, Cell is on his way! (Episode 133)

The Review!Audio once again is limited to the horrid English dub, and there seems to be little in the way people can do to get Madman to change this for TV episodes at least. Either you accept it and cringe at the dub, or import and cringe at the bad Aus to US dollar conversion rate.

Video:The video is of the same serviceable quality as always, neither terribly bad, nor extremely good.

Menu:The menu follows recent Madman DBZ trends, an animated main menu in the style of History of Trunks/Bardock discs with options to play the opening, each episode, the end credits, view the extras and “hidden” local authoring credit. Nicely animated, it unfortunately seems to be at the cost of a screen selection page. Also instead of directly going into the US “DBZ is next” clip and the opening like the previously used style, it heads straight for the menu, allowing avoid the opening entirely if you wish.

Extras:There are a reasonable volume of so-so extras, with a promo for the official Australian Dragonball Z web site, character profiles for Krillin, Cell, Trunks, Android 16, Piccolo, and trailers for the Cell Saga, History of Trunks and Bardock specials. New extras please Madman.

Packing:The packaging follows the same path as earlier volumes, with a zoomed screen shot of Cell performing the Solar Flare from “Piccolo’s Folly” providing a nice eye draw on the cover. Inside we get advertisments for other DBZ releases from Madman Entertainment. The disc itself mimics a dragon ball.

Content:This volume has some nice fights on it, between both Cell and Krillin and clymatic battle between Piccolo and Android 17.

We find Trunks deep in thought, as he recalls past events. His good intentions in traveling to the past seem to have backfired, with stronger versions of his Androids and the fearsome Cell roaming the landscape and causing untold damage. The other Z Fighters search for Cell with no luck, until Krillin accidentally runs into Cell during a feeding. In one sequence where the English dub seems good, we see Cell chase after a brother and sister only to be interrupted by Krillin, who then tries a smart tactic escape from the Android, which soon backfires. The music really help set the desperate pacing of all. Back at Kame House, Goku the sleepy headed Saiyan finally awakens ready and raring to get back into action.

In the next episode Goku sets out daring plan into motion. To beat Cell and the Androids requires a power level beyond that of a Super Saiyan, the only problem is the amount of training required will take time. This is easily side-stepped through the use of Kami’s Hyperbolic Time Chamber, a room set in a empty void, where a year inside only takes a day in the real world. But can Goku, Gohan, Vegeta and Trunks even spare a day with Cell rampaging about the countryside, and will Piccolo be able to hold off the newest visitors to Kame House, the trio of Androids, for that long.

In “The Monster is Coming” Vegeta and Trunks are the first to get their shot at training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, while the combined might of Kami and Piccolo’s power levels seems equal to the task of pulping Android 17. Goku and Gohan watch worriedly from Kami’s lookout, hoping that he will succeed, which seems a sure thing until Piccolo makes that classic Dragonball Z mistake: assuming that your foe is beaten after firing your impossible to escape/survive energy wave attack.

Imperfect Cell – Race against Time beings to wind up the Android’s as Cell begins his plan for completion, and this disc has some good action on it.